Real Feelings.

How To Deal with The Depressed

For all the ennui the depressed are supposedly burdened with, they always seem to find a spark to say, “It’s just not that easy!” when presented with a friendly suggestion to pick themselves up by the bootstraps so that their cycle of wallowing can continue unabated.

The first defence of the depressed is to metaphorically pull down the pants of your good intentions, revealing to the world its impotent splendour, no matter how effective it could have been in making them feel a little less shitty (or nothing at all) all the time. Irony is a cruel mistress, isn’t she? For all the griping about how hard it is to be a depressed, I have come to know that dealing with the depressed as infinitely harder than dealing with any depressive impulses of my own.

If our good intentioned suggestions on how to break a depressed wallow-cycles–like “Hey! Get some exercise! Eat better! Get a good night’s sleep! Talk to a mental health professional! Talk to me about what’s bothering you! Don’t feel so goddamn bad all the time!”–are stymied by “It’s just not that easy!” before they are given their fair shake, how on Earth are we supposed to deal with the depressed? What can we do to force the stubborn mules that are the depressed to un-dig their hooves from the dirt and move forward in improving their lives?

Some of you may not appreciate the stubborn mule metaphor for the depressed but I assure the metaphor is apt as it contains our solution. If we are to understand the depressed as stubborn mules, we unlock the secret to reaching them without getting bucked aside by “It’s just not that easy.”

When one offers a good natured suggestion to help pull a depressed out of their funk, they are engaging in the futile exercise of trying to move a mule by force. Instead, one must dangle carrots with the utmost patience, free of judgement or criticism to entice the mule (read: the depressed) to take action whilst not stripping it of its autonomy. Now, I must stress that these are not literal carrots but small gestures. Something as benign as a complimentary text message to serving them takeout you pass off as your own cuisine to provide a loving connection that will soon grow into a beacon of light that helps guide the mule out of darkness.

Stick to this while avoiding tough-love and minimizing their pain at all costs and, some day, their hooves will come un-dug. It’s just that easy, albeit a very long and slow process that requires constant attention and sensitivity. But I believe in you, just as you must believe in how far a small act of kindness can mean to someone that’s blinded by a constant, internal self-flagellation.

The Nicessist is a website that only exists thanks to the sick, twisted minds kind enough to volunteer their time. Please, support the twisted minds volunteering their precious time by following us on Twitter or liking us on Facebook.

Really enjoyed this piece. We have wrote a song about mental health…not your run of the mill song where you can dance away to it in the local bar but rather a reflection on the impact of poor mental health on a person and those around them. We are currently putting the final touches to it but when we are finished I would love if you would have a listen!!

I wish we as a society treated mental conditions as seriously as we deal with the physical. Depression…. It’s a hard struggle. From personal experience, I feel like it’s not addressed enough. Thanks for sharing.

If you would please spare some time and take a look at my most recent post titled “first of all….”, that would be fantastic. Any sharing and/or comments are encouraged.

The post touches on how sometimes we make the mistake in getting into arguments with others, not knowing all the facts of the situation, in a comical way…